Sunday, March 25, 2012

Now that they have won seats, they can no longer be dismissed as just a loony idea. And doing so in the midst of a historic landslide to another party is rather remarkable

I voted LNP but I am rather pleased that the Katter party is now a credible force. Katter is from Queensland's far North, where I was born and bred and his views are the sort of views that I grew up among -- and which I still largely hold. And his gains were all in the North. They usually voted Labour up there but did so out of perceived economic self-interest. Rather like the Old Southern Democrats of the USA, they voted Leftishly but were conservative at heart.

It is a tough-minded sort of conservatism up there, perhaps aptly called ultra conservatism. The brainless Left would call Katter's party "far Right" but that conjures up visions of racism and Katter is in fact known for his good relations with Aborigines. He is in fact arguably their strongest political advocate.

And under the Australian system of preferential voting, having two conservative parties maximizes rather than splits the conservative vote

BOB Katter's fledgling party was claiming four seats and pledging to be "ferocious" in opposition to the all-powerful LNP. Katter's Australian Party won Mount Isa and neighbouring Dalrymple while party boss Bob Katter also declared wins in the still undecided seats of Thuringowa in Townsville and Mulgrave in Cairns.

Mr Katter said, on last night's result, the party could secure up to 10 seats in a federal election and declared "the war has just begun". "In 15 to 25 seats, we secured (more than) 20 per cent of the vote," he said, "Yet some of our candidates have only been in the field for six weeks."

Mr Katter said his successful Australian Party candidates would be "ferocious" in opposition. He also blasted a court decision which, he said, cost thousands of votes when the party was robbed of the right to include "Bob Katter" on ballot papers. "That has cost us a great deal in this election," he said.

Mr Katter's son, Robbie, who took Mount Isa, has become the third generation of his family to enter politics while his KAP colleague Shane Knuth will hold the neighbouring seat of Dalrymple, centred around Charters Towers.

But the KAP's state president, Aidan McLindon, lost Beaudesert while one of its star candidates, former cricketer Carl Rackemann, lost the battle last night in Nanango, based around Kingaroy. Mr Katter said that both candidates would be back for a second tilt at the seats.

A party spokesman said last night that Mulgrave was likely to fall to the KAP while the Townsville-based seat of Thuringowa also looked positive.

The party exceeded polling expectations, taking more than 10 per cent of the vote and turning some seats into two-horse races between the LNP and the KAP.

Mr Katter said his son's victory reflected voter disenchantment. "He was never interested in politics until a few years ago," Mr Katter said. "It's a measure of how bad the two main parties are that a bloke who had no interest mobilised himself with enormous aggression."

Robbie Katter was cautious about claiming victory too early but conceded the vote was coming his way. "It was a David (and) Goliath fight - we were battling with probably one-tenth of the staff and budget the others were," he said. "They had been around more than 50 years and we had only been around for 10 months."

The wildcard electorate which did well for the KAP included Mulgrave in Cairns where Damian Byrnes - a doctor and medical officer in the reserve defence forces - put in an impressive performance.

Mr McLindon said that he was satisfied he had played a role in creating a new force on the political scene in Queensland. "This election is a big battle but there is still the war to be won," he said, referring to the federal arena. "At last, we can rest comfortable knowing we have created a good political organisation here."

CAMPBELL NEWMAN'S come-from-outside victory had more than a hint of his father's assault on the political ramparts 37 years ago. In 1975 Newman snr, Kevin, stripped the Tasmanian federal seat of Bass from the Labor Party.

Bass had been held comfortably by Labor's Lance Barnard - deputy prime minister under Gough Whitlam - for 21 years. But Kevin Newman, standing for the Liberal Party, won the seat at a byelection with a 14 per cent swing. It was the beginning of the end for the Whitlam government.

Kevin Newman, who died in 1999, held Bass from 1975 to 1984 and was rewarded with a string of ministries throughout the governments of the prime minister Malcolm Fraser. Had he lived, it seems likely he would have relished the dynastic synergy in his son winning the key Queensland seat of Ashgrove, which had been in Labor hands for almost 23 years.

Campbell Newman, like his father, was a soldier before he decided to turn his hand to politics. He spent 13 years in the army, reaching the rank of major after training as an officer at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

The discipline of the military and the political environment in which he grew up - his mother, Jocelyn, was a long-time Tasmanian senator who held several ministries in the Howard government - are mentioned as the combination that turned Newman junior into a public figure.

His period as lord mayor of Brisbane, from 2004 to last year, earned him the title of "Can-Do Campbell", a nod to his efforts at building roads and tunnels and getting himself in photos with a shovel in hand. It is a sobriquet he turned into a political slogan for his party after deciding to run for premier, even though he did not have a seat in Parliament.

The surreal quality of a premier-in-waiting campaigning without a parliamentary seat was underlined yesterday when Mr Newman was unable even to cast his ballot for himself. He doesn't live in the Ashgrove, the electorate he had vowed to win from the Labor Party's Kate Jones.

He had to be content with giving his vote to the Liberal National Party's candidate for nearby Brisbane Central, Robert Cavalucci.

"How are you feeling, Campbell?" cried a voice from the crowd as he turned up to cast his ballot at the Newmarket State School polling booth, in inner northern Brisbane. "Apprehensive," said Mr Newman, keeping a straight face.

Perhaps he was. It had seemed such a high-stakes attempt. Indeed, when he announced his intention to run for premier, the former Labor premier Peter Beattie said: "It's either the smartest thing the LNP ever did or the dumbest." Last night, Mr Newman having weathered a smear campaign about his family's business affairs - one that collapsed when the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission found no case to answer, and Anna Bligh admitted she didn't have the material to back her allegations - it was looking to be the smartest.

Incoming Queensland premier Campbell Newman has dumped Anna Bligh's chief bureaucrat as he confirmed an interim cabinet of three people was likely to be sworn in tomorrow.

Mr Newman joined with overjoyed supporters at a lunchtime barbecue at The Gap, where he was greeted with chants of "Campbell, Campbell, Campbell" following last night's crushing victory over the Labor government headed by Ms Bligh.

The LNP leader, who participated in initial meetings at the Executive Building this morning, confirmed he had asked the director general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, John Bradley, to stand down to help deliver a clean start.

"I won't be requiring his services," Mr Newman said, adding it was not yet appropriate to announce who would fill the role under the new LNP government.

Mr Newman would not speculate about the future of Ms Bligh's husband, Greg Withers, who is a senior public servant in the Department of Environment and Resource Management.

He said he’d met with public servants in the Department of Premier and Cabinet this morning and stressed his top priorities: cutting the state’s unemployment rate to four per cent, restoring accountability to government, and cutting down on waste and inefficiency.

He said from the moment the government was sworn in, he’d order a 20 per cent cut in government travel expenses, a ban on all non-essential government advertising, and a freeze on consultancy work.

Mr Newman said he was planning to meet with Governor Penelope Wensley at 2pm today to advise that he was confident he could form a government. A swearing-in would hopefully take place tomorrow.

The initial swearing-in will see just three members of the new LNP government appointed to their roles - Mr Newman will be sworn in as premier, Jeff Seeney will become deputy premier and minister for state development with oversight of the co-ordinator general, and Tim Nicholls will be the treasurer and minister for trade.

Mr Newman said the various remaining ministerial portfolios would be split between the three of them, ahead of planned changes to government structures to allow the full ministry to be appointed.

"It will be as soon as we can possibly do it," he said when asked about the timing of the full swearing-in.

Mr Newman took the opportunity today to repeat his pledge to keep all of the LNP's election promises. "We will not let you down," Mr Newman said.

Mr Newman would not comment on former premier Anna Bligh’s resignation until he’d heard authoritatively about her decision.

When pressed further he said the LNP would vigorously contest South Brisbane, but would not say who the candidate would be.

With conservative State governments recently installed right up and down the East coast -- where most Australians live -- Abbott is clearly justified in his view

FEDERAL opposition leader Tony Abbott says the crushing win by the Liberal National Party in Queensland shows the Labor brand is toxic across Australia. Mr Abbott said Labor MPs around the country would be very worried because governments which aren't competent lose "big time"

"I think the Labor brand has become toxic and the only way for the Labor Party to recover is to have a good long hard look at itself, to rediscover what it believes in, what it stands for, who it represents and also to regain a bit of political integrity," Mr Abbott told Sky News.

The Liberal leader said that same political integrity was lacking in the Gillard government. "It is a disaster for the Labor Party because it does indicate that governments which are all about spin, which don't deliver for the Australian people, they lose elections. "And they don't just lose them narrowly. They lose them in a landslide."

He denied that his comments during the campaign that the Queensland election would be a referendum on the carbon tax went too far. "I think that the carbon tax was an issue. It certainly wasn't the only issue," he said.

"Certainly, there were two candidates for the leadership of Queensland, one of the them, Anna Bligh, strongly identified with the carbon tax, another Campbell Newman who was going to fight the carbon tax."

Mr Abbott said the success of Katter's Australian Party which has won at least two seats in the Queensland parliament, does not have federal implications. "A lot of disillusioned Labor people who couldn't quite bring themselves to vote for the Liberal National Party and didn't want to vote Green, more conservative Labor people if you like, parked their vote with the Katter Party," he said.

"But I think that was more a function of state factors than of anything we're likely to see at the next federal poll."

2 comments:

Paul
said...

Katter's achievement is being played down by the establishment. Seeney on ABC on election night (with that useless piece of blubber Lucas sitting next to him) dismissed a vote for Katter's people as a wasted vote, saying instead that people should be focused only on the two major parties and their respective policies. Red Kerry didn't challenge him on this affront to democracy. Naturally, neither did Lucas.

I'll let you know if the Queensland Nurses Union suddenly becomes all militant like the ANF in Victoria did as soon as Brumby was out of power. It'll be easy to pick, the tone of their newsletters will suddenly change from fawning helpfulness to aggressive employer-baiting.

Background

Postings from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.) -- former member of the Australia-Soviet Friendship Society, former anarcho-capitalist and former member of the British Conservative party.

Most academics are lockstep Leftists so readers do sometimes doubt that I have the qualifications mentioned above. Photocopies of my academic and military certificates are however all viewable here

For overseas readers: The "ALP" is the Australian Labor Party -- Australia's major Leftist party. The "Liberal" party is Australia's major conservative political party.

In most Australian States there are two conservative political parties, the city-based Liberal party and the rural-based National party. But in Queensland those two parties are amalgamated as the LNP.

Again for overseas readers: Like the USA, Germany and India, Australia has State governments as well as the Federal government. So it may be useful to know the usual abbreviations for the Australian States: QLD (Queensland), NSW (New South Wales), WA (Western Australia), VIC (Victoria), TAS (Tasmania), SA (South Australia).

For American readers: A "pensioner" is a retired person living on Social Security

"Digger" is an honorific term for an Australian soldier

Another lesson in Australian: When an Australian calls someone a "big-noter", he is saying that the person is a chronic and rather pathetic seeker of admiration -- as in someone who often pulls out "big notes" (e.g. $100.00 bills) to pay for things, thus endeavouring to create the impression that he is rich. The term describes the mentality rather than the actual behavior with money and it aptly describes many Leftists. When they purport to show "compassion" by advocating things that cost themselves nothing (e.g. advocating more taxes on "the rich" to help "the poor"), an Australian might say that the Leftist is "big-noting himself". There is an example of the usage here. The term conveys contempt. There is a wise description of Australians generally here

Another bit of Australian: Any bad writing or messy anything was once often described as being "like a pakapoo ticket". In origin this phrase refers to a ticket written with Chinese characters - and thus inscrutably confusing to Western eyes. These tickets were part of a Chinese gambling game called "pakapoo".

Two of my ancestors were convicts so my family has been in Australia for a long time. As well as that, all four of my grandparents were born in the State where I was born and still live: Queensland. And I am even a member of the world's second-most condemned minority: WASPs (the most condemned is of course the Jews -- which may be why I tend to like Jews). So I think I am as Australian as you can get. I certainly feel that way. I like all things that are iconically Australian: meat pies, Vegemite, Henry Lawson etc. I particularly pride myself on my familiarity with the great Australian slanguage. I draw the line at Iced Vo-Vos and betting on the neddies, however. So if I cannot comment insightfully on Australian affairs, who could?

My son Joe

On all my blogs, I express my view of what is important primarily by the readings that I select for posting. I do however on occasions add personal comments in italicized form at the beginning of an article.

I am rather pleased to report that I am a lifelong conservative. Out of intellectual curiosity, I did in my youth join organizations from right across the political spectrum so I am certainly not closed-minded and am very familiar with the full spectrum of political thinking. Nonetheless, I did not have to undergo the lurch from Left to Right that so many people undergo. At age 13 I used my pocket-money to subscribe to the "Reader's Digest" -- the main conservative organ available in small town Australia of the 1950s. I have learnt much since but am pleased and amused to note that history has since confirmed most of what I thought at that early age.

I imagine that the the RD is still sending mailouts to my 1950s address!

I am an army man. Although my service in the Australian army was chiefly noted for its un-notability, I DID join voluntarily in the Vietnam era, I DID reach the rank of Sergeant, and I DID volunteer for a posting in Vietnam. So I think I may be forgiven for saying something that most army men think but which most don't say because they think it is too obvious: The profession of arms is the noblest profession of all because it is the only profession where you offer to lay down your life in performing your duties. Our men fought so that people could say and think what they like but I myself always treat military men with great respect -- respect which in my view is simply their due.

The kneejerk response of the Green/Left to people who challenge them is to say that the challenger is in the pay of "Big Oil", "Big Business", "Big Pharma", "Exxon-Mobil", "The Pioneer Fund" or some other entity that they see, in their childish way, as a boogeyman. So I think it might be useful for me to point out that I have NEVER received one cent from anybody by way of support for what I write. As a retired person, I live entirely on my own investments. I do not work for anybody and I am not beholden to anybody. And I have NO investments in oil companies or mining companies

Although I have been an atheist for all my adult life, I have no hesitation in saying that the single book which has influenced me most is the New Testament. And my Scripture blog will show that I know whereof I speak.

The Rt. Rev. Phil Case (Moderator of the Presbyterian church in Queensland) is a Pharisee, a hypocrite, an abomination and a "whited sepulchre".

English-born Australian novellist, Patrick White was a great favourite in literary circles. He even won a Nobel prize. But I and many others I have spoken to find his novels very turgid and boring. Despite my interest in history, I could only get through about a third of his historical novel Voss before I gave up. So why has he been so popular in literary circles? Easy. He was a miserable old Leftist coot, and, incidentally, a homosexual. And literary people are mostly Leftists with similar levels of anger and alienation from mainstream society. They enjoy his jaundiced outlook, his dissatisfaction, rage and anger.

Would you believe that there once was a politician whose nickname was "Honest"? "Honest" Frank Nicklin M.M. was a war hero, a banana farmer and later the conservative Premier of my home State of Queensland in the '60s. He was even popular with the bureaucracy and gave the State a remarkably tranquil 10 years during his time in office. Sad that there are so few like him.

Revered Labour Party leader Gough Whitlam was a very erudite man so he cannot have been unaware of the similarities of his famous phrase “the Party, the platform, the people” with an earlier slogan: "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuehrer". It's basically the same slogan in reverse order.

Australia's original inhabitants were a race of pygmies, some of whom survived into modern times in the mountainous regions of the Atherton tableland in far North Queensland. See also here. Below is a picture of one of them taken in 2007, when she was 105 years old and 3'7" tall

Julia Gillard, a failed feminist flop. She was given the job of Prime Minister of Australia but her feminist preaching was so unpopular that she was booted out of the job by her own Leftist party. Her signature "achievements" were the carbon tax and the mining tax, both of which were repealed by the next government.

The "White Australia Policy: "The Immigration Restriction Act was not about white supremacy, racism, or the belief that whites were higher up the evolutionary tree than the coloured races. Rather, it was designed to STOP the racist exploitation of non-whites (all of whom would have been illiterate peasants practicing religions and cultures anathema to progressive democracy) being conscripted into a life of semi-slavery in a coolie-worked plantation economy for the benefit of the absolute monarchs, hereditary aristocracy and the super-wealthy companies and share-holders of the northern hemisphere.

A great little kid

In November 2007, a four-year-old boy was found playing in a croc-infested Territory creek after sneaking off pig hunting alone with four dogs and a puppy. The toddler was found five-and-a-half hours after he set off from his parents' house playing in a creek with the puppy. Amazingly, Daniel Woditj also swam two creeks known to be inhabited by crocs during his adventurous romp. Mr Knight said that after walking for several kilometres, Daniel came to a creek and swam across it. Four of his dogs "bailed up" at the creek but the youngster continued on undaunted with his puppy to a second creek. Mr Knight said Daniel swam the second croc-infested creek and walked on for several more kilometres. "Captain is a hard bushman and Daniel is following in his footsteps. They breed them tough out bush."

A great Australian: His eminence George Pell. Pictured in devout company before his elevation to Rome

There are also two blogspot blogs which record what I think are my main recent articles here and here. Similar content can be more conveniently accessed via my subject-indexed list of short articles here or here (I rarely write long articles these days)

NOTE: The archives provided by blogspot below are rather inconvenient. They break each month up into small bits. If you want to scan whole months at a time, the backup archives will suit better. See here or here